


OF 



HON. ABEL RAWSON, 



BEFORE THE 



SENECA CO. PIONEER ASSOCIATION, 



IWO'VDEIMaEEEJ^Et &, :S.&G&. 






TIFFIN, OHIO: 

\ STAR PRIXTIXC IIOVSK WHITE A ORVCIG PROPRIETORS. 

1869. 



) 






Okfick of Skcsetary ok the 
Skneca County Pioxkek Association 
TiKFix,Nov.8th, 186H 



4 



Abel Rawsox.Esq.. //«Ko/-«/ Wc— In conformity with the resolution unanimously 
adopted by the Seneca County Pioneer Association, at their meeting of Saturday, tho 
6th inst., the undersiprned committee would resiiectfully solicit for publication a copy of 
the able and masterly address delivered by you before said Association at that meeting. 
Hoping that you will favor us with a copy, and wishing you hcnlth and a long life, we 
respectfully remain 

Yonv friends and humble servants, 

HENRY KUUN, 
.lAMES BOYD, 
WM. LANG, 
L. A. HALL, 
BEN.T. PITTEXGEH, 



To Dr. H. Kulin, .Taiiics Boyd. Wm. Lang, L. A. Hall, Benj. Pittenger, Committee. 

Genttinifn : — Your polite note of this morning is receive<l, containing your request for 
a copy of my late address before the Pioneer Association of Seneca county. I had not in- 
tended it for the public eye, norcan I t'urnish a copy (having no amanuensis) on account 
of my physical infirmities, but I have concluded to place at the disposal of your Secre- 
tary the original, to be used for the purpose indicated, presuming it not improbable that 
its eirculation may direct the attention of the old settlers throughout the county to the im- 
portance ofailopting suitable measures to preserve the incidents of pioneer life in it. 
I am respectfully your obedient servant, 

A. RAWSON. 

Tiffin, <).. Nov. 8, IStW. 






Ladies nnd Gentlemen, Pioneers of Seneca Connty : 

I meet you on the present occasion depressed by infirmities, which have, 
liive an incubus, for more than a twelve-month beset my pathway of life, and 
necessitated me to rt-linquish all physical exertion and mental effort. I 
tnust, therefore, bespeak your indulgence for the desultory nature of my 
present remarks. These will refer to and deal with generalities only, omit- 
ting historical details for a work which I had in progress, but have been 
reluctantly compelled to suspend, and the completion of which is veiled in 
the unknown luture of my condition. 

If the gratitude of any Christian people were ever due to a merciful 
Creator, that gratitude is due to Him from the pioneers of Seneca County 
for the perseverance and energy ; the patient snfferings and endurance 
which enabled them to exchange the comforts of civilized society and the 
holy influences of kindred associations, for the self denials of a wilderness and 
the task of transforming it into cultivated fields and plenteous homes. Man 
is a strange being, fond of novelty and the perils of romantic or hazardous 
enterprise. These characteristics are powerful, though perhaps unappre- 
ciated incentives to activity ; and not unfrequently co-operative, like hand- 
maids, for his relief from urgent want, if not imperious necessity, without 
his consciourness of it. Therefore, whatever privations there may be to be 
endured and dangers to be encountered, such are the peculiarities of his 
mental constitution, that many of his sweetest enjoyments are derived from 
BuccessfuUy combatting indescribable hardships and difficulties for the pur- 
pose of reaching some unseen or imaginary goal of his aspirations. Hence 
the needy, the young and vigorous, who feel that they'must be the archi- 
tects of their own fortune, readily listen to an impulsive inclination, rather 
than the voice of wisdom, to seek the fields of adventurous enterprise. The 
first settlers of Seneca County were not an exception to these influences, 
intensified by the /hope of bettering their temporal position. Most seduc- 
tive and flattering were the fields presented for their occupancy and prac- 
tical development and reclamation in the wilds of Ohio immediately after 
the war of ISl 2. To elucidate thisa brief retrospect of the condition of the 
■country at that time ; its forbidden aspect and formidable obstacles to im- 
provement on the one hand; and its inducements for settlement on the 
other — not wholly omitting the enduring fortitude and progress of its 
pioneers — seem to merit our thoughtful attention on the present occasion. 

At the commencement of the present century, and thence until after the 
war of 1812, between Great Britain and the United States, the north-west- 
ern part of Ohio, originally subdivided into fourteen, but now including 
twenty counties, and embracing an area of greater extent than the entire 
State of Connecticut, was mostly an unbroken forest densely thickened with, 
coppices of underbrush and studded with lofty trees overshadowing with 
their outspread branches this vast wilderness ; and enshrouding its recesses 
with the pall of a sombrous shade, excepting where intercepted by the rays 
of light penetrating it at some isolated prairie or small Indian improvement. 
Among the more majestic of these trees were the black walnut, yellow pop- 
lar, oak, elm and ash, which were generally from four to five feet in diam- 
leter, at the usual place of cutting, three or four feet from the ground, and 
below the limbs divisible into from three to four sawlogs, each twelve feet 
long. The two trees first named were not unfrequently from five to seven 



feet in diameter three or four feet from tlie gronntl, and alike free from 
lin?bs from sixty to eighty and occasionally ninety feet. The sycamore, 
although of equal diameter, was sliortcr below the limbs, and more branch- 
ing. The cherry, maple and beech, although large, were comparatively of 
secondary size to the others above mentioned. And yet the removal of this 
dense forest , or a great part of it, constituted an indispcnsaJde prerequisite 
to the occupancy of the country for agricultural purjwscs. Wild pea-vines, 
cowslips, browse and native grapes grew abundantly, and supplied plenteous 
forage to the deer and other herbivorous animals roaming and abiding in 
this dark and uncultivated wild. The grassy prairies, decked in summer 
with gorgeous flowers of all hues, were renovated by annual autumnal fires 
kindled by the Indians. Game of all kinds was superabundant, including 
diverse species of squirrels,, countless flocks of wild turkeys, and otber fowls 
highly esteemed for food. Delicious fish, such as the princely muskelungo, 
the pike, bass, perch and others, sportively darted and rollicked along in the 
streams. Tha furs of various animals were especially attractive for domes- 
tic use and their commercial value. The cranberry thrived luxuriantly in 
the marshes ; and the strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and whortleberry 
grew exuberantly here and there in the ''oak openings" and upon the 
prairies and along the borders of Indian improvements. The plum, crab- 
apple and grape flourished on the fertile declivities and bottoms along tho 
-^ iLtargins of the streams. The lobelia, i jomlijw ), boneset and various herbs 
i/ less potent grew spontaneously, and weredeemed invaluable by the natives, 
and afterwards highly, appreciated, in unprofessional hands, for their 
medicinal properties. A variety of indigenous fruits, among the most 
prominent of which were the hazelnut, butternut, beechnut and shagbark, 
contributed bounteously, not only to the support of wild game, but in the 
beginning of settlements, like manna to the Israelites, towards the suste- 
nance of domestic fowls and the swine of emigrants. 

The surface of the country was rolling, inclined to level with much 
Bameness of contour and general appearance. A considerable portion of it, 
although high, was so uniform and, in its primeval siate, so covered with 
water most of tho time, intercepted in its egress by fallen timber, as to ob- 
tain the boorish sobriquet of " Black Swamp." Nevertheless the lofty 
forest, which grew and flourished even there, stamped convictiofi on the 
mind of every adventurer penetrating it that these level and apparently 
swampy lands were susceptible of easy drainage; and also that the ridges 
of outcropping limestone intersecting them and not unfrcquently covered 
with butternut, poplar, black walnut and cherry, demonstrated their natural 
dryness and adaptation, in an eminent degree, to the most profitable agricul- 
tural purposes. For the soil, consisting of a deep friable loom or black 
mould, was underlaid with a substratum of yellow clay, imbued with largo 
quantities of fertilizing ingredients; and must, it could not be doubted 
when subjected to cultivation, become exceedingly productive. Limestone 
prevailed almost everywhere ; and sandstune, slate and gypsum in certain 
localities. Good water was abundant, and along the streams, in general, 
and the Sandusky Hiver in particularj, there was a sufficiency of water 
power for mills and manufacturing purposes. Springs were not infrequent; 
and where deficie;it, an ample supply of pure and wholesome water was 
easily attainable by the digging of wells. 

The climate was more genial and temperate than in the same latitude 
east of the Alleghany mountains. This may perhaps have been caused, 



partially, at least, by the proximity of Lake Erie, and the diffudveness of 
its vast evaporations, and in part, prior to the drainage and improvement of 
the country, by the constant and wide-spread exhalations from the exten- 
sive forests covering it, if not in a measure by its remoteness and protec- 
tion from the cold north-eastern gales of the Atlantic. Be this, however, 
as it may, there can be no doubt that while the earth was protected from 
the rays of a vertical sun, and the chilly blasts and frosts of winter by 
fallen leaves, and a dense overshadowing forest constantly emitting its 
wide-spread vaporizations; the atmosphere was more humid and the climate 
more temperate, although less salubrious than afterwards, as at the present 
time,, when deprived by drainage of its surface waters and exposed to the 
influence of the wind and solar heat. At all events, such it was balmy and 
Beductive at the period to which I refer. Everything, soil, climate, local- 
ity, timber, game, water, stone, and the assurance of prospective products, 
in profusion, combined to make the country attractive to civilization. Such 
was north-western Ohio as opiginally out spread and robed by the power 
and munificence of the all-wise Creator; and such it was while in possession 
of the natives, who forages had roamed over it, without advancing a single 
step towards the attainment of intellectual culture, or the domestic com- 
forts of civilization or social life. The Indiar_s, after the memorable victory 
of General Anthony Wayne over them at the foot of the rapids of the 
Maumee Puver, August 20, 1794, punctilliously continued the observance 
of good faitli toward the government and people of the United States until 
stimulated, about 1809 or 1810 to renewed aggressions upon the border 
pioneers by the huxters and emissaries of Great Britain. 

These and other national wrongs became so provocative and insolent that 
the United States resolved to submit all dilfevences between her and her 
rival to the arbitrament of arms; and on the 18th day of June, 1812, she 
accordingly declared war against Great Britain, in which many of these 
disaffected Indians participated, and contributed their services in her be- 
half. Noio mark that the country around and adjacent to the western end 
of Lake Erie became the thrater of many battles and the scene of ceaseless 
military maneuvers and operations. The army was consequently compelled, 
during the three years of the war, again and again, to traverse this region 
of country ; bivouac upon it and become familliar with its adaptation tp 
agricultural purposes. Its vast superiority in these respects over the 
Eastern and Southern States did not nor could escape their observation. 
Its convenient access, by way of the Lakes especially, attracted their atten- 
tion, and by some connecting link between these Lakes and the Hudson 
River, which had been then already agitated, an outlet for the future 
products of the soil was assured. By reference to the map it could bo 
reasonably anticipated that the time was not distant when another outlet to 
the Ohio River would open a southern market and consequently create an 
active and healthy competition for the products of the country whose fer- 
tility of soil, timber, and climate were so highly appreciated. These fasci- 
nating allurements werj enhanced and fortified by the fact that the State of 
Ohio, which was not only consecrated to freedom by its own organic law, 
but also protected by the aegis of the ordinance of 1787, never could bo 
expected to recede from the practical enforcement of the principles it or- 
dained. The soldier on returning from the war to his family and friends 
among the rocky declivities and rugged hills of New England, New York 
and Pennsylvania, or the everglades ol the South, would naturally recount 



4 

the particulars of his eventful service. It may be safely assumed that a 
country, although mantled in gloom, yet of such native grandeur, and so 
inviting to emigration, must have been minutely described ; and that its 
advantages for the sure and speedy acquisition of wealth and permanent 
homes, were vividly portrayed. The exhaustless fertility of its soil ; its 
stately forests ; its stone, water and game ; its indigenous fruits; its prox- 
imity to Lake Erie, and its temperate climate liad captivated his judgment. 
The profusion of its native products; the cheapness of v,estern lands, and 
their exemption from taxation ; and the opportunity it presented for suc- 
cessful enterprise, had inflamed his imagination. These and kindred sub- 
jects of reflection, unquestionably constituted the fireside theme of his 
conversation, daily intensified and embellished by reiteration. This 
knowledge was not second-hand or speculative, but positive and rehable. 
His long exposure in the camp in this very wilderness, and his personal 
observation and experience precluded the possibility of deception. Conse- 
quently the desire to possess a country of such wondrous promise could 
only be satisfied by the acquisition of the object of bis affection. But the 
territory was fordidden ground, belonging to and occupied by several tribes 
of Indians. This interposed a barrier to its immediate settlement. After 
the war many of these Indians, still influenced bv British emmissaries, con- 
tinued unfriendly towards the United States, which male it indispensable 
to the enduring welfare of both, and especially to the peace and safety of 
the contiguous border pioneers, that the rights and possession of the Indians 
should be extinguished and these lands opened to emigration and impi'ove- 
ment. The constant demands upon them for additional grants of land and 
the ceaseless encroachments on them by ruthless speculators had soured 
their better nature, provoked their distrust and intensified their jealousy 
and hate. The disastrous results of the war of 1812 had admonished them 
of the futility of resistance. They panted, like caged lions, for liberty to 
roam without restraint and unmolested o'er their native wilds. They wer^ 
subjugated, humiliated, broken-hearted. Their game was disappearing, 
they knew not why nor wherefore. They saw, without a gleam of hopetul 
redemption, the feeble tenure by which they held the homes and country 
made by the Great Spirit, as they alledged, for them and their children 
forever. Begirt by civilization and its artistic manhood and superiority, 
they could do no otherwise than succumb to the inexorable demands of im- 
perious necessity — a necessity, however, which painfully foreshadowed their 
gradual extinction. The finger of destiny pointed them to the setting sun. 
That destiny was appreciated by none more vividly than by themselves. 
But incapable of patient reflection, they had perceived no way to insure 
self-preservatioa except by the power of physical resistance. They had in 
vain tried this expedient in the war of 1812 — influenced by their animal 
instincts and a gross sensuality only, without the benefits of improvement 
or capacity for improvement in moral or intellectual progress. Endowed 
with these mental defects, they could not remain pacific nor the border 
pioneers secure from their stealthy depredations. Under these circum- 
stances, on the 29th day of September, 1817, a treaty was concluded at the 
foot of the rapids of the Maumee River between Counnissioners of the 
United States on the one part, and the Chiefs of the Wyandot, Seneca, 
Delaware, Shawanee, Potawatima, Ottawa and Chippawa tribes of Indians 
on the other part, whereby all their remaining lands within the limits of 
Ohio, were ceded to the United States. These lands were thenceforth, by 



common consent, designated and known by the name of the ^'New Pur- 
chase," and included the present county of Seneca. 

With a knowledge of such a country thus acquired, and with the 
Essuranee that it could be occupied without interference and depredations 
from the Indians, it is not singular that the tide of emmigration should 
have flowed, as it did, rapidly towards it, commencing at once, even prior to 
its survey and subdivision by the national government. Seneca county, 
both from its superior natural advan tages for agricultural thrift and hope- 
ful returns to which I have cursorily alluded, and its contiguity and access- 
ibility to the "Firolands" and other portions of the Stats already partially 
settled, quite naturally attracted [he first attention of those emigrant ad- 
venturers who sought localities, as squatters, wherever directed by incli- 
nation or judgment. These settlements continued during the surveys 
by the United States, and at the time of the election of the county by an 
act of the General Assembly of Ohio, passed February 12th, 1820, to take 
effect from and after the first day of April nest threafter, the forest here 
and there was studded with cabins. The gleeful notes of civilization suc- 
ceeded the war-whoop of savages; and the exercise of christian faith 
and love, noiselessly, without pallatiel palaces or pretentious ceremonials, 
illumed and cheered the hearts of self-denying pioneers. The surveys 
being completed, municipal organizations became indispensable, and em- 
bryo villages gradually arose to meet the requirements and convenience of 
the sparsely settled communities. Nevertheless, although our progress 
was slow and beset with anxious cares, yet we have not, as I trust, unprofita- 
bly nor unsatisfactorily devoted our lives to the culture and reclamation of 
this goodly heritage. We have, most assuredly, no reason to regret the 
choice made by us when young, active and vigorous, in assuming the 
responsibility of foregoing the comforts and appliances of civilized soci- 
ety for the purpose o: extending its blessings here, and meantime improv- 
ing our own condition and prospects in life. The present generation, 
nurtured in the lap of plenty, cannot comprehend the multifarious self- 
denials unavoidable in settling t.nd subdu'ng a new and wilderness coun- 
try, nor can they appreciate the practical wisdom it confers, nor the 
commingled pleasure and pain we feel in reverting to it. Nevertheless 
a glance at our duty to preserve some memorial of our career in the spring- 
time of life, tasked to the utmost by endurance, and alternating, for years, 
between hope and fear, together with a brief, unvarnished retrospect of pi- 
oneer straits and acts of kindness, cannot be wholly devoid of interest 
to ourselves and our posterity whatever may be its effect on others luxu- 
riating in enjoyments emanating from our early sagacity, labor and toil. I 
trust th';.t all may appreciate the importance of such memorial and ret- 
rospect, and especially, at the meetings of this association recount the appar- 
ently most trifling minu tee of our historical reminiscences, for these 
oftentimes not only form important links in the chain of events, but also 
constiti'te the spice that gave variety and zest to our enjoyments. And 
again in reverting to the toilsomeness and self-denials of pioneer life, it is 
without vanity or boastful conceit that we claim some credit for our 
patient zeal and constancy in subduing a wilderness and .'preparing the 
way there for a higher degree of civilization. Whether or not, in our 
transit through life, we have been true to the principles we then incul- 
cated, and have preserved unimpaired the commendable habits we then 



contracted and exemplified in our daily walk and conversatioc, can be 
determined only by a truthful and unpretentious review and retrospect 
of the eventful scenes of our lives traced with impartiality and a just ap- 
preciation of our condition and the frailties unavoidably insident to our 
common humanity. This can b3 done correctly and satisfactorily 
only by those who were cotemporary with or partici- 
pated in those scenes; and it is to be regretted that they have been so long 
neglected. But the demands of a new country and its pinching necessi- 
ties for many years precluded the possibility of associating for the pur- 
pose of gathering up and recording the fragmentary, current transactions 
of the times. If this a.ssociation had been established twenty years ago, its 
accumulations would now have been extensive and almost invaluable. As 
much, however, has been lost forever from neglect and inattention, it be- 
comes us to collect and preserve what remains. It will not only constitute 
a nucleus of historical facts, but from their simplicity and off-hand original- 
ity of reproduction they will constantly increase in interest and value with 
the lapse of time. We must have a low estimate of our position and efforts 
in the world if we can feel such indifference on this subject as to permit 
the worksofour life-time, and, indeed, swcA alife-time to be lost in cndl'e-'^s 
night. I trust that such may not be our destiny. Posterity, in general, 
and our relatives and personal friends in particular, are entitled to the ben- 
efits of our example, and to withhold it from them, if not tacitly inferential 
of epicurean instincts or a willingness to level ourselves with the brute, 
might at least leave the impression of a disposition, for some cause unex- 
plained, to conceal our real character and conduct. The objects of this 
association are especially intended to avoid these ill-starred results by ex- 
huming and resuscitating the minor every day incidents of pioneer life in 
the county of Seneca, and to perpetuate them in some durable form as a 
stand -point for future research and usefulness as well as individual pleas- 
ure. The manner of development here indicated will be sure to carry 
on its face the impress of truthful and artless simplicity without which 
the utility of this association will be unavailing if not wholly useless as a 
basis for historic reference. For history is no respecter of persons; and to 
be reliable it must embody veritable facts and be free from alloy and with- 
out disfiguration. Truth forbidjjthat its record should be marred, and con- 
sequently in its delineations of human character and events, it must have 
its lights and its shades. Whatever may be our private inclination for 
eclat and self-gratification, the historical developments of Seneca county, 
however, apparently trifling or ludicrous, if not improper for the public 
ear, ought most assuredly by each of us, to the extent of his knowledge 
and occurring within the sphere of his own observation and efficient op- 
erations, to be faithfully reproduced with the unvarnished artlessncss of 
originality in accordance with veritable antecedents irrespective of what 
they ought to have been or might now be desirable. In other words 
that /at'^s- ought to be carefully consulted and rye«^s impartially narrated 
as they transpired and are enrolled on the page of time. Nevertheless, "to 
err is human," and it would be singular if amidst the complicated and try- 
ing vicissitudes of pioneer life, we had at all times wholly escaped a depart- 
ure from the absolute rule of right. It is to be hoped, however, and I trust, 
that ntme of us have been guilty of the intentional infraction of our moral 
duties, nor become the willing victims of inordinate cupidity or arrogance 



or of a faithless inconstancy tending to relax our intellectual energy, dis- 
sipate our morals and impair if not destroy our usefulness by 
unhinging the fixity of our manly purposes. With many oH us, the roll 
■is already made up, containing the eventful scenes enacted by each of us 
in the drama of life. By these o\i\y,noio beyond the po^ver of revision or 
emendation, can we be correctly estimated by posterity; and that estimate 
must be deceptive if ought be added, withheld or perverted for the purpose 
of giving color to our real conduct. To do this would be to sin against 
light and conscience. If we have abused the trust of free-agency with 
which we were endowed, the fault must be our own ; and however much 
we may now regret it, yet it does not become us to murmur or complain at a 
truthful exposition of those events which constitute the formation of a 
iharacter, whether good or bad, we have deliberately made for ourselves. 
3cing the architects of our own happiness or misery, we ought not, as ra- 
ional and accountable beings, lo ask or expect others to excuse or justify 
)ur willful aberrations of conduct; for truth and equity are immortal and 
leed no apology, equivocation or concealment. Indeed exposure and pub- 
icity are commendable and just, either as incentives to acts of utility ; 
ir as partial correctives, at least, against the perpetration of crimes and 
ainor transgressions and violations of duty. Hence the propriety, if not the 
lecessity of reproducing unreservedly and with impartiality all the essentials 
if our progress. Ey these means, and these only can it be determined wheth- 
r or not our presence and painstaking in the world have tended to human 
dvancement in religion, morals and social life ; whether or not our exer- 
ions have been directed to the improvement and amelioration of our own 
ondition in common with that of others, or to the exclusive gratification 
if our inordinate love of gain, or indulgence in dissipation or friviolous 
musements ; and in a word, whether or not we have hid our light under a 
lushel or let it shine openly before the world, thereby enabling others less 
atelligent or fortunate than ourselves to receive and enjoy the benefits of our 
xperience and example; or to profit by our mistakes and errors as correc- 
ives against temptations amidst the enticements and buffetings of life. The 
dcked acts of a reputedly good individual are intrinsically no better than 
tiose of a reputedly bad individual ; and the good acts of a reputedly bad 
individual are intrinsically as just and commendable as those of a reputedly 
good individual. They equally deserve notoriety, because alike pgprei^- - 
hgngibh) ; and yet charity, "which is the bond of perfectness," will direct^^ 



our attention to individual reputation ; and induce, and very properly induce 
and justify our silence, if not our forgiveness, as occasion may require, in 
behalf of the transgressor whose motives or mental defects cannot be com- 
prehended when the act of transgression itself cannot be sanc- 
tioned, justified or excused. The former is personal involving 
considerations of innate frailty, irresolution or possible innocence; and 
consequently invoking our sympathy for fallible humanity. The latter 
constitutes a /ac^ involving in itself a transgression which, as such, (irrespect- 
ive of the tiansgressor,) ought not to receive nor can it receive the appro- 
bation of mankind, nor evade the Divine scrutiny; nor its author ulti- 
mately a just retribution. From these remiarks, alike dictated by reason and 
common sense, it will be observed that the development and detail of 
facts and events truthfully and unreservedly as they occured, ought to 
be with us, as members of this association, an all important consideration, 



% 



8 

leaving to every one the advantages and disadvantages; the credit and 
discredit; the pleasure and pain, derivable from the conduct and position 
which he or she has, from any cause, been induced to assume and occupy 
amidst the diversified scenes of life. In this connection I need only add 
my own convictions that the surviving early settlers cf Seneca County 
have nothing to fear from impartial scrutiny ; but on the 
contrary that they can invite it with confidence as to results. 
And in concluding this part of my subject, permit me to say that the 
past of Seneca county is full of eventful incidents worthy of preservation. 
By a concentration of efi"orts and diligent research on your part, these can 
be gathered up and put into a durable form. In view of the obHgations 
due from rational and accountable beings to the race in general for its 
progressive elevation as well as the pleasure it must afltbrd yourselves, this 
will not, I trust, be treated with indifference nor neglect. As respects 
myself, I am admonished by ago and my waning health, without any reas- 
onable prospects of lasting improvement, that I can promise little per- 
sonally, indeed nothing in aid Oi this association : yet my heart is devoted 
to it and with confidence that by ordinary industry and perserverence, its 
success will be assured. 

Now with a few general remarks as to pioneer life in this county ; and 
the aspirations, duty, patient fortitude, and unselfi shness of the pioneers 
themselves and I have done. Nurtured here from childhood and youth 
amidst the checkered scenes and exactions of a stern necessity, many cf us 
have spent our lifetime in this city and county. It is therefore not sing- 
ular, that as pioneers, now lingering on the verge of time, we should feel 
disposed to retrace our footprints, and carefully recall the events x^hich have 
transpired here and in which we have, for weal or woe, largely participated. 
Iris however of secondary importance for us to know that there is a city of 
Tiffin; that it is studded with sple::did buildings for private, mechanical 
andeducationalpurposes;thatitsstreets are macadamized; its streams bridg- 
ed; and its native wilderness and rusticity reclaimed and converted in- 
to the tasteful abode of the arts and civilization. I say that these are 
comparatively non-essential and of little concernment But it is of im- 
portance to know under what adverse circumstances and by what skill and 
patient selfdenial of its proprietor the city of Tiffin successfully resisted the 
hydraof unscrupulous efforts to strangle it in its infancy; and also by 
what means it has, within less than half a century, been metamorphosed 
from the haunts of wild beasts and savnges into its present magnificence. 
It concerns us to inquire and ascertain the disposition, ability, anxiety 
and motives of those by whose energy tenacity and good qualities the growth 
and progress of Tiffin have been effected; by what pei versify its public 
sentiment has been occasionally demoralized or its private morals cor- 
rupted ; and to what extent these were induced and influenced or modi- 
fied by the love of display; pure individual selfishness or a spirit of phil- 
antrophy. It behooves us to trace those events which, although perhaps 
unnoticed at the time of their occurence, culminated in the present re- 
sources and appliances for social enjoyment in Tiffin; and to especially 
heed the progress of its people in wealth, morality, intellectual culture 
and the arts which have been assiduously fostered by them and their de- 
ceased colaborers and absent associates. It also behooves us to recall 
the trials of adversity that beset them and us in early pioneer life; and with 



9 

humility to indulge ourselves in a familiar recital of the expedients 
adopted, not unfrequently with prayerful solicitude, to overcome them for 
the improvement of our straitened condition. The trials and tribula- 
tions inevitable to the first settlers of every country are countless, poignant 
and indescribable. The memory, in its efforts to reproduce them, is misti- 
fied and confused if not lost in oblivion. Those of the pioneers of Seneca 
county v?ere not exceptional ; but from the nature of Its accompaniments and 
surroundings, they were superlatively trying and laborious. Appreciating 
this, they worked with a will, alike from necessity, iuclinationandduty, to 
improve their lands and overcome the multitudinous and imposing draw- 
backs to their immediate subsistence and domestic comfort. 

The pioneers ol Seneca county having sought their homes in the wild- 
erness with singleness of heart to subdue it and improve their own 
condition and prospects in life, were alike indifferent to the fastidiousness 
of aristocratic conventionalities, and the allurements and captivating fas- 
cinations of the glittering tinsels of wealth. With them it was a season 
of social equality without invidious rivalry, or as politicians would now say, 
they were all equal before the law, and it ma? be truthfully added emulous 
only "to do unto others as they would that others should do to them." 
They therefore not only encouraged and fostered each other but especially 
new comers among them. If worthy and industrious, it was immaterial 
whether or not they had capital other than labor and moral habits which 
were then indispensable and constituted the best of capital. Those, and 
they were rara, who had available means, bought lots or land, constructed 
buildings and improved the county, meantime by contact and a bland as- 
simulation, blithely participating in the rustic customs and usages if not 
the pinching wants of their new associates. Every legitimate enterprise 
was stimulated by private exertions and public encouragement. All culti- 
vated a spirit of mutual help, neighborly intercourse and equality. If any 
one was sick, unfortunate or unsuccessful in bis laudable efforts and in 
danger of breaking down, he was duly cared for and sustained either by good 
counsel or material aid as the occasion might require. Instead of being buf- 
feted in his calamity, as not unfrequently happens from envy and pride 
in a wealthy and pretentious state of society, his misfortunes, if inevitable 
or blameless, were commisserated and promptly relieved by the community 
which justly appreciated the loss of his services and talents as being more 
detrimental than the loss of money. And again the cohesive incentive for 
reciprocal actions was strengthened if not enforced by the consideration that 
they might some day need a corresponding sympathy and magnanimous 
response. All, as if by instinct, spoke encouragingly of the town and county; 
of the prospects before them ; of their progress ; of the simplicity, yet un- 
alloyed happiness of their lives; of their goodly neighbors ; and every- 
thing tending to advance their common weal. It was these little things, 
then cherished by all, but now too often unseen and unappreciated, that 
gave vivacity and energy to the infant settlements of Seneca county. 
It was these that infused the patient pioneer with hope and courage; ttat 
gave cheer to his lonely home in a cabin and contentment with a scanty 
wardrobe. It was a daily increase of the comforts emanating from these 
that inspired him with an abiding confidence in ultimate success. 

The demand for the necessaries of life greatly exceeded the home supply. 
Markets were remote and almost inaccessible. A month, on the average, 



10 

was busily occupied by the Tiflfin merchant to visit the city of New 
York, purchase a stock of goods and return. The roads, although dccep- 
lively defined on some of the maps, consisted merely of tortuous Indian 
trails. One entire day especially during the winter and early spring, 
when the muddy ground for the causes herein previously mentioned, 
seldom became solidly frozen, was diligently occupied in traveling on 
horseback from TiflBn to Fremont only eighteen miles and the nearest 
point of access to the waters of Lake Erie. Mosquitoes and other nauseous 
insects and reptiles were legion and intolerably annoying. They were at 
nightfall only expelled and kept off by a suffocating smudge placed wind- 
ward for that purpose, and now well remembered as a gratelul godsend on 
those occasions. The squirrel and raccoon, the blackbird and crow 
would ruthlessly despoil iheir cornfields. The hawk would seize and 
plunder their domestic fowls. The bear and ferocious panther were often- 
times more familiar than courteous or desirable. The howl of the prowling 
wolf would not unfrequently chill the blithesome gayety of the terror-smit- 
ten pioneers ensconced in their isolated cabin for the domestic chit-chat of 
eve. Chills and fever were not uncommon, and now and then the 
shaMnf) ague, like some saucy prude, would stir up the bile of its quivering 
victim, jerking and tossing and torturing him for hours without respite 
or mercy. The thoughts of a former sweet home and its multifarious sur- 
roundings would inevitably return requiring a mighty mental effort to 
divest them of the forms of reality. But these thoughts were transitory, 
for nature was bountiful and her assurances visible and convincing. She 
whispered in their ears '■^Patience. My resources, crude as they are, when 
developed by your skill and industry, will convert these solitudes into the 
abode of a moral and intellectual community, beset with churches and 
schools, all siwrained by the munificent products of my soil." This ma- 
ternal voice, the instinctive promptings of a stern necessity, was cheer- 
fully heeded, and the stately forest wilted hke dew before the ax of the 
stalwart pioneer and his sturdy sons. The goodly wife and her cheery 
daughters meantime did the honors of the kitchen; superintended house- 
hold aff^iirs; made clothes for family use; read books eschewing trashy 
periodicals; fostered a taste for social enjoyments and moral and intellectual 
culture; and indeed did all these things and more, roJjcd in domestics 
without the bewitching fascinations of modern corsets or the Grecian bend. 
At night-fall this weary group congregated in their homely cabin, roughly 
constructed of logs, with a floor of puncheon and a chimney of billets 
cemented and plastered with mortar of clay. It was dimly lighted by a 
small window or two, made sometimes of glass, but not unfrequently of paper. 
A single door, hung with wooden hinges and fastened with a wooden 
latch operated by a latch-string of recent political notoriety, furnished 
a passage for ingress and egress. Now follow me into that cabin, and 
contemplate this interesting group ministering to the demands of pressing 
x^-cW/ hunger. Behold the purity^of its domestic enjoyments. A skillet, 
^ytAi^X bake-kcttle, frying-pan and coffee-pot or tea-pot, constitute the principal 
^ ^ utensils for cooking. Supper, being already prepared, is spread oftentimes 
without table-cloth, upon a table of boards or puncheons. The house- 
hold gather around it, seated in chairs of rudest manufacture, or upon stools 
or benches provided for the occasion. The head of the family, in mien care- 
worn and benign, pronounces an appropriate benediction. The plain, 



11 

yet nutritious meal, bespeaking most perfect cookery and neatness, is dis- 
posed oi with a will. The labors of the day create a craving appetite, and 
that appetite is a substitute for those exquisite delicacies which now-a-days 
induce dyspepsia and a liberal demand for patcQt nostrums. Supper over 
and the table and dishes carefully disposed of, the family assemble for 
the social chit-chat and comforts of eve, around the big fire crackling in 
the wide and open fire-place. The faithful watch dog sleeps at the door 
and puss in a corner. The evening is devoted to reading or instructive 
conversation, alternated with gleeful amusements to which the busy house- 
wife now and then superadds darning and knitting. At bed-time, closing 
the departing day with devotional service, they retire for the night, 
reposing on beds made sometimes of feathers, sometimes of straw, upon 
roughest bunks or bedsteads of domestic manufacture. With heavenly 
innocence playing upon the countenances of all, they sleep soundly and 
sweetly until the dawn of another day. Such, briefly, was the daily routine 
CI pioneer life. Their hearts, overflowing with gratitude, pulsated 
warmly with love for one another, and with still greater love to Him 
who unseen had conducted them safely, Avithout guile, through the 
day, and crowned their labors with success. Suffice it to say, that here 
in the wilderness beyoad the pale of social intercoursa, all the finer emo- 
tions of the heart and love of the benevolent duties of life dwelt in the 
family circle, however humble that circle might be. The inmates of a 
palace constructed of marble and richly furnished in oriental splen- 
dor, might well envy such dwellers in a cabin, and from them learn that 
unalloyed happiness is to be found only in innocent blithesome hearts ir- 
respective of wealth or position. Of these adventurous pioneers none were 
indifferent to the exacting conditions of society. All adopted and daily 
improved the accumulating means for its amelioration and progressive use- 
fulness. There were no indolent drones, enjoying the benefits of labor 
bestowed by others, without sustaining his share of the public burdens. 
The impropriety if not the criminality of inactivity, whether real or aff"ected, 
was duly appreciated and its votaries were promptly doomed to stoical in- 
diff"erence if not absohite disrespect. Several of these indomitable pioneers 
built up princely fortunes by their energy and strict attention to their 
legitidate business, as I hope to explain on another occassion; and they 
all succeeded beyond their most sanguine anticipations, excepting perhaps 
now and then a solitary individual, who with supercilious arrogance, 
awaiting wealth or distinction without efi'ort, frittered away his life-time in 
the illusions of self conceit or in dissipation and frivolity. They made 
roads and farms; created wealth and constructed houses and edifices alike 
tasteful and commodious. They surrounded themselves and their families 
with all the appendages and appliances of domestic ease and comfort. 
They laid deep the foundatious of religious culture and social life. They 
meantime cared for the sick and needy; enforced the laws against vice 
and immorality fearlessly without looking back for the shadow of popu- 
lar opinion; and they now constitute, in the aggregate, a community which 
■will compare favorably, in all the elements ofanadvanced civilization, with 
that of the pioneers of any other northern county in Ohio. And again what 
constituted mere abstractions in civilized communities necessarily became 
the practical rule of every-day life to pioneers. They might have been and 
probably were from inexpediency, if not necessity, apparently indifferent' 



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12 



to or deficient in some of the amenities of p || || |||||||||||||||||||||p 
warm emotions of the heart — the best guarani q 014 574 726 
and unselfish sympafh}'. They had emigratc-vi ntui^ iruui cnoice — eacli 
seeking his own individual profit and advancement; and they had conse- 
crated themselves and were contributing powerfully in the hands of 
Providence, to the amelioration of their own condition and in preparing 
tbc way for the diffut^ion of religion, morality, intelligence and refinement. 
Those who have enjoyed every appropriate gratification of taste, and 
indulged every feeling of affection which the most unlimited sumptuous- 
ness confers, cannot be expected to appreciate the anxious solicitude and 
yearning with which the first settlers looked back upon the land of their 
childhood, where churches, schools, and all the appliances that minister 
to our better nature captivated and delighted the imagination. Every- 
thing that revived associations of the past and its surroundings was won- 
drously endeared by time and distance. Those whom they had passed 
indifferently on the street or highway a thousand times without special re- 
cognition were, on entering their cabins to make some simple inquiry 
for drink or refreshments or about the way further onward, greeted as friends 
and interrogated with intense inquisitiveness as to their residence, local 
incidents, acquaintances and destination. Although there might have 
been but little to communicate yet that little had its precious reminis- 
cences, and served to renew and strengthen the bond of union with 
those from whom they were remotely separated. It sweetened their mus- 
ing return to the rustic scenes of life, giving at nightfall a freshness 
of delight to the meditations of eve ; and enchantment in listening to the 
songsters of the air saluting the dawn. Such were the longings, such the in- 
spiration that nestled in the hearts of these tenants of the wilderness. None 
but pioneers can appreciate the deep emotions of tenderness to which 1 have 
just referred. The <;ontrast between the past and the present; between 
society and solitude would unavoidably loom up in the mind as if to tan- 
talize the imagination ; yet they had a purpose which no comparisons or 
temporary inconvenience could shake or disturb. The future was big with 
promise and its redeeming rewards were self-assured. A sober second 
thought converted this contrast into an element of increased contentment 
and satisfaction. Hence it is' not singular that the temporary privations 
and sufferings of pioneer life should have become the fundamental source 
of domestic gratification and comfort. For anticipation operated as an anti- 
dote to counteract all impending perils and misfurtunes incidental or ap- 
parently unavoidable whereby, in the language of the poet, they were en- 
abled 

"In these deep solitudes and awful cells 

Where heavenly, pensive contemplation dwells," 

to struggle, for yeai's, with superhuman fortitude, toil, self-denial and en- 
durance amidst miasmatic influences peculiarly deleterious in the early 
settlement of the county, to improve their condition and secure the higher 
enjoyments of social life. No wonder that everything meeting the eyo of 
these devoted pioneers and giving prestige of success, should have invok- 
ed, as it did, the Divine benediction — testifying their gratitude for the 
sleepless care and particular providence of the Supreme Being in their 
behalf, and recalling his many promises of loving kindness to dutiful hu- 
manity. 



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014 574 726 « 



